Friday, November 27, 2009

While I have not had as much time for knitting as I would have liked this past week, I did cast on for this beautiful lace scarf pattern, Party Lace Scarf. I love the beaded row at each end and I'm knitting it with the rest of my hand dyed/hand spun Purple Heart Throb Angora. Hopefully there will be more knitting time in the days to come...this is a busy time of year for everyone! Happy holidays!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Full view of the back, I really need to get one of those fun dressmakers forms for photographing my knitted garments.

I had the best time knitting this wrap. I got to use my favorite color combination's and delicious yarns from my stash of special yarns and my own hand spun!!! It all started earlier in the week when Jocerane (Jocelyne) one of my compatriots in the Jane Thornley knitters group on Ravelry, had the most brilliant idea! A Knit Your Fae KAL. She directed us to this fun site, Fairy Name Generator, where you type in your name and are then given your fairy name along with a description. The idea is to create a garment in keeping with the fairy description. I couldn't wait to get started! I used Jane Thornley's Feather n' Fan Organic Wrap pattern as my inspiration and I'm so glad I did, this pattern is addictive! I love Jane's patterns because she leaves plenty of room to weave your own artistic style into the design. I wanted to do something light and airy so I used mostly sock weight yarns, nearly all of my choices had silver metallic spun into the yarn. I also used some of my hand spun angora in lilac and robins egg along with some beautiful glittery ribbons.

Close up of the crocheted fringe of leaves and beads, if you look closely you can see the one acorn and oak leaf (far left) I added to the fringe.

My fairy is called Columbine Elfdancer

She is a cheerful sprite.

She lives in mushroom fields and quiet meadows.

She is only seen when the bees swarm and the crickets chirrup.

She wears lilac and purple like columbine flowers. She has delicate green wings like a cicada.

I absolutely love my fairy name, it gave me such fun inspiration in choosing my yarns for this project. The knit along is just beginning, so there is plenty of time to join in the knitting fun if you're interested.

Front of the wrapThe beautiful thing about this pattern is that the curvaceous ins and outs of the Feather n' Fan edge along with the knitted ties create the look of butterfly wings! I'm really pleased with the overall effect, I think it really captures the spirit of my fairy. I hope you'll be inspired to join the knit along, Thanks to Jocerane for inspiring us all in this fun creative project and to Jane Thornley for the awesome pattern!

Friday, November 13, 2009

I have been watching so many of my friends working on the mitered square throws/blankets, I had planned to give it a try myself one day soon. When I saw this knitted collar, I knew it was the perfect project for me to venture into the world of mitered squares. The pattern is called the Chancellor's Collar, check it out, it knits up quite fast, I'm nearly done. I've used some of my own hand spun angora for the collar, I wish now that I had taken the angora all the way down to the large mitered row. I may end up re-knitting that section. Most of the squares are knitted with Noro silk garden lite, but with the small squares, I started mixing it up a bit. I've also incorporated Berroco Sox Metallic in a pink-purple blend and turquoise-sky blue-chartreuse-plum blend. Both sparkle with silver! I will have plenty left over for other projects...maybe I will have to start a mitered square blanket of my own. Goodness knows!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Wow, is this a big Christmas stocking! Santa will have plenty of room to pack in the goodies! I finished knitting it earlier in the week and here it's pictured being blocked on the ironing board. I used blocking wires to even out the difference between the fair isle sections and the regular stockinette sections.

Fun,fun, it's a great pattern, I added my own personal touches by using my angora hand spun for the cuff, adding bobbles and breaking up the color bands with more of a stripy pattern because I like to see how the colors play off one another. I still need to embroider the words naughty and nice on each side of the cuff. This is an ample stocking, it measures 27" long, by 5 1/2" wide. I think when I knit more, I may make the pattern a bit smaller by using only one of the fair isle designs, that would still make it over 20" long, a good length for a stocking, I think. I'm pleased with how it came out, I got to practice my fair isle technique and I loved knitting these colors. I got a tip after I had finished with the fair isle sections, that if you knit inside out, that gives a little extra length to the yarn being carried along the back of the work, so that when it's turned right side out there isn't so much pull on the knitted fabric from the tensionof the carried yarn. I will definitely use that technique next time, because I did have areas that wanted to snug in a bit from the yarn tension. The New Ancestral Christmas Stocking was an easy, quick pattern, knit some up for your family, or for yourself, it's got plenty of room for sugar plums of all shapes and sizes!

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About Me

I'm a crafter, knitter, tinkerer, who always seems to have a project or two on the launch pad. I love to share what I'm working on and I love to see what other folks are working on too, so please comment and let me know where I can see your latest creation!